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As an Xbox360 Launch title, GUN has done little to
impress. Having been kept securely under lock-and-key by Activision
since the first muttered words at E3 2005, the title flew into the
loop in November as one of the Christmas challengers, alongside Ubi
Soft’s Prince Of Persia: The Two Thrones, EA’s Need
For Speed: Most Wanted, Nintendo’s Battalion
Wars and Mario Smash Football, competing Xbox360
Launch titles Perfect Dark Zero, Project Gotham Racing 3
and Activision’s own True Crime: New York City. Having
 been
previewed for the GameCube and PlayStation2 far ahead of its Xbox360
unveiling, it was thought that some renovation was being included
with the highly anticipated next-gen launch. Well, that may not
necessarily have been the case, but nevertheless, GUN still
has a lot of promises to live-up to whether or not it breaks any
boundaries – and the big question hanging over Activision and what
seems to be their waning desire to fulfil the public’s
expectations with titles that are considered as good as their peers,
if not better.
Activision have taken plenty of hits from the industry
lately. Having been a driving force since the NES, the publishers
have strived to bring a vast range of titles to the gaming public in
a wide variety of genres. Now the industry is maturing, and
publishers are dropping like flies, Activision have made their play
and done it well. Although it can be said that their general release
schedule, at any point in the year, will show a list with titles
ranging from good to  unacceptably underdeveloped, the honour of
being one of the largest publishing forces in the industry can’t
be denied to them. It’s with this honour that titles such as GUN
manage to surface; due to Activision’s almost insurmountable
resources (thanks to the underdeveloped titles such as Ultimate
Spider-Man, Call Of Duty: Big Red One and True Crime:
New York City) some more inspiring title manage to emerge.
GUN takes place in the Wild West and details the
adventure of Colton White on a quest for revenge, and to piece
together the missing parts of his past (but, more importantly,
revenge). After a very brief Training Mission, the title open fires
and plunges you into a shoot-out on a Steamboat, a set-piece that
cuts above many over titles opening pieces. With a fair-sized Map
and an explicitly detailed plot, GUN spurs through twisting
Mission Objectives, Cut-Scenes and Side-Quests in a fashion far more
expansive than 2004’s Red Dead Revolver – although not
without having taken its inspiration. The Boss Fights in  particular,
whilst taking place in general Map terrain as opposed to some
inaccessible shack or canyon, are structured as a set-piece
reminiscent of each
Mission
available in Red Dead Revolver, however GUN clearly
has more stamina, freedom and ingenuity. The Side-Quests are split
into several categories, including Pony Express, Wanted Posters and
Marshal Missions and each vary in objective and each reward with
Experience. Pony Express Missions see you dashing back-and-forth
obtaining and returning a desired object within a pre-set Time Limit
monitored by a Meter on the top-left of the screen. Wanted Posters
will set you either an individual or a Gang to hunt down and
apprehend either dead or alive, or may specify which is to be the
desired preference, and Marshal/Sheriff Missions require you to run
errands, defend public figures or generally defend the particular
town from invaders.
The Desert acts as the HUB for the best part of the title,
with the story taking you from town-to-town littered throughout. The
desert represents a more The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time-esque
land of distance and voyage as opposed to the Grand Theft Auto:
San Andreas approach much-mooted by the  gaming press; and is all
the better for it. Creating a captivating space full of Bandits and
Wanted Criminals as opposed to street punks and bystanders generally
avoiding any participation in the on-screen action.
Although the graphics are clearly polished, and of an
incredibly high standard, they are exactly the same as those
seen in the simultaneously produced GameCube version. Another piece
of the multi-format puzzle is the Loading time – quick enough to
be ignorable, but at often twice as long as the GameCube equivalent,
quite ridiculous. The camera enters a close, over-the-shoulder type
camera when your weapon is drawn; clearly inspired by Resident
Evil 4, although placed closer to the Hitman series on
screen, allowing the view of many of the high-polygon models in a
wide-angle. The character models, for the best-part, are animated 
very well, although the enemies do seem to have an uncanny ability
to slide in-and-out of cover whilst squatting… Whilst the
soundtrack is mostly ignorable, the voice-acting is brilliant and
the sound of metal tearing through flesh is spot-on.
GUN is one of those titles that seemingly appears out
of nowhere and grabs peoples’ attention, building-up expectations
without ever actually trying to. Through doing this, it obviously
dictates as to whether a game ultimately succeeds or fails: if
expectations rise too high it may be inevitable that the game will
disappoint. Although GUN would be considered ridiculously
short by Final Fantasy or The Legend Of Zelda
aficionados, it’s a relative length for a story-led Adventure
title – room for enough twists and turns in the plot without
disenfranchising the player, nor create a distancing from the
on-screen avatar. Although you may complete many Side-Quests
throughout the game, they add some nice spice and longevity to the
title with a few of the Xbox360’s Achievements revolving around
them. GUN is a very inspired and complete title that may
disappoint those having just purchased their shiny new Xbox360, only
to play what is effectively a GameCube game, but it should be given
the recognition it deserves as a cleverly developed title in its own
right. After all, graphics aren’t everything…
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